Early Saturday, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Minnesota Timberwolves are expected to consummate a deal that has been in place for at least a month, sending All-Star forward Kevin Love to the Cavaliers for the last two players taken No. 1 overall in the NBA draft.

Love will join LeBron James and Kyrie Irving to give the Cavaliers the latest "Big Three" nucleus that will be expected to contend for championships.

The move also is a painful reminder of what might have been for the Suns, who, according to an ESPN.com report, made a last-ditch effort to revive a Love deal on Thursday. No luck.

Almost everything went right for the club last season, which is often the perception when expectations are low and a team far surpasses them.

About the only negatives to last season were that the Suns came up just short in their quest to make the playoffs, and guard Eric Bledsoe underwent an arthroscopic knee procedure that limited him to 43 games.

Beyond that, the season more than lived up to the team's "Ignite the Future" mantra.

New General Manager Ryan McDonough seemed to make all the right moves, including hiring coach Jeff Hornacek.

And despite a roster viewed by many as a bunch of castoffs, the young Suns were entertaining and competitive.

Hornacek's two-point-guard backcourt of Bledsoe and Goran Dragic clicked when it was together. Dragic had a career year and Bledsoe's play more than justified giving up Jared Dudley to get him.

Miles Plumlee was a surprise at center. Gerald Green provided what seemed like a video stream of eye-popping plays. The Morris twins thrived together coming off the bench.

And P.J. Tucker and Channing Frye gave the Suns veteran leadership and dependable defense.

Just as important, the Suns appeared poised to build upon all of that with multiple draft picks and salary-cap flexibility.

They made a run at King James, but never got beyond a meeting with his agent. They were reported to have interest in dealing for Love, but either the Timberwolves weren't interested in anything the Suns had to offer or, worse, Love wasn't interested in playing here.

The Suns lost Frye to Orlando during free agency, and then Tucker was arrested on a super-extreme driving under the influence charge.

What more could possibly go wrong?

Well, how about their relationship with Bledsoe?

The nature of restricted free agency always means things can go sour because it is in the player's interest to go out and get the best offer possible, forcing his team to match the offer or let him go. And it is in the team's best interest to try to convince suitors that they're wasting their time because they'll just match any offer.

In the meantime, the Suns offered a four-year, $48 million contract and Bledsoe's agent has indicated he wants a five-year, (hack, hack) $80 million maximum contract.

It has led to an awkward stalemate and now our Suns guy, Paul Coro, reports that the Suns are nosing around looking for possible trade partners for a sign-and-trade deal.

The good news is, McDonough signed Isaiah Thomas, a free-agent point guard who was with Sacramento last season, to give the Suns insurance.

But what might be overlooked in all of this, especially with what Cleveland is putting together in the Eastern Conference, is what the Timberwolves are putting together in the Western Conference — where the Suns reside.

In the haul for Love, Minnesota gets 19-year-old Andrew Wiggins, who was the No. 1 overall pick in what was supposed to be the best draft in years.

It gets Anthony Bennett, who was the No. 1 pick in last year's not-so-good draft. Granted, Bennett did nothing as a rookie to justify being the top pick even in a bad draft.

However, he reportedly has lost 20 pounds and was terrific in the Las Vegas summer league. Oh, and he's only 21 years old.

The Timberwolves used their No. 8 pick in the draft to get UCLA's high-flying guard Zach LaVine, another 19-year-old.

And in the Love trade Minnesota is getting Miami's 2015 first-round pick that Cleveland owns. The Timberwolves reportedly will send that to Philadelphia to acquire forward Thaddeus Young, 26, who averaged 17.9 points, six rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.1 steals last season.

This isn't to say that the Timberwolves, who won only 40 games last season with Love, are going to make a quantum leap past the 48-win Suns without him.

But if all those young guys pan out and the Suns end up losing Bledsoe?

This may be a summer the Suns regret for a long time.

Reach the Heat Index at 602-444-8271 or bob.young@arizonarepublic.com. Follow us on Twitter @BobYoungTHI.